Smokers, beware: tobacco penalties under President Obama’s Affordable
Care Act could subject millions of smokers to fees costing thousands of
dollars, making healthcare more expensive for them than Americans with
other unhealthy habits.

The Affordable Care Act, which critics have also called “Obamacare”,
could subject smokers to premiums that are 50 percent higher than usual,
starting next Jan 1. Health insurers will be allowed to charge smokers
penalties that overweight Americans or those with other health
conditions would not be subjected to.